Update: The De Pere City Council on May 5 approved development agreement terms with New Land Enterprises for the $70 million mixed-use development between South Broadway and the Fox River. Company officials, city staff and council members spent nearly two hours discussing some of the project details and impacts. City staff collected questions and concerns the council and public raised with an intent to provide answers as the project progresses. The company and city staff now will finalize terms and building designs that will require further public discussion and formal reviews before the project could proceed.
With Nova Green Bay set to open this summer, its developer has turned its attention to another prime site, this one in downtown De Pere.
Milwaukee-based New Land Enterprises has proposed Lockside, a $70 million mixed-use development for about 2.4 acres in the 100 block of South Broadway. The redevelopment plan involves several properties between Broadway and Front streets owned by either the City of De Pere or MP Broadway LLC, whose registered agent is Jonathan Mulva.
Plans call for conversion of Front Street into a pedestrian-focused facility along the Fox River and Fox River Trail. The building includes a mix of luxury apartments, condominiums, a two-story restaurant space and enclosed parking. It would be six stories tall along South Broadway Street and seven stories tall along the Fox River side.
Joey Wisniewski, New Land’s senior development coordinator, said project plans remain conceptual for now, but they aim to take full advantage of a prime site that fronts both downtown De Pere and the Fox River.
“It’s a very prominent site. It’s a very exciting site with it being on the corner of what we call Main and Main. It’s right in the heart of downtown, right along the Fox River. It’s a beautiful property,” Wisniewski said. “We’re looking forward to working with the city and the community to really provide an enhanced experience along the riverfront.”
The De Pere City Council on Tuesday, May 5, will consider and possibly act on a development agreement with New Land that could kick-start redevelopment of the site. Dan Lindstrom, De Pere’s director of development services, in a staff report to council called the site “one of the most difficult” in the downtown district and that New Land’s proposal offers a “realistic path forward.”
“It supports the city’s broader housing goals, adds to the tax base, and creates major public improvements along the Fox River,” Lindstrom wrote. “It also recognizes the site’s limitations and the careful decisions needed to make a project of this scale possible.”
Condominiums, apartments and more planned for Lockside in De Pere
Here’s a breakdown of what the new mixed-use development would include:
Wisniewski specifically noted that the plans the City Council will discuss marked the riverfront park plans as “TBD” because New Land wants public and city staff input into final designs.
De Pere would complete infrastructure improvements, provide financial incentives
Under the proposed agreement, the city would be expected to complete several infrastructure improvements and provide New Land close to $12 million in financial incentives.
De Pere project construction could start by end of 2026
The staff report includes a tentative project timeline that, of course, is subject to change, but envisions a project completion by mid-2028.
Contact business reporter Jeff Bollier at (920) 431-8387 or jbollier@usatodayco.com. Follow him on X at @JeffBollier.
This article originally appeared on Green Bay Press-Gazette: De Pere advances Milwaukee group’s $70M plan for key downtown site
Reporting by Jeff Bollier, Green Bay Press-Gazette / Green Bay Press-Gazette
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